Gundam Wing: Before the Heaven's Cry
by Torankusu
Summary: The night before the Eve wars, the Gundam pilots reflect. Rated R for mature themes.


Gundam Wing: Before the Heaven's Cry  
a Gundam Wing Fanfiction  
by Torankusu Senshi  
  
The space battleship known only as Libra drifted almost lifelessly in space. The giant vessel resembled nothing more than a giant leaf. However, one could tell by the literally thousands of weapons ports around the hull, the defensive oriented structure, and the large, threatening main cannon at the center of the leaf shape that it's purpose for existing was anything but peaceful. The Battleship Libra existed only for one purpose, and that purpose was war. The ability, if necessary, to bring the entire planet of the Earth to it's knees was to be found aboard that harbringer of death. The year was After Colony 195, and terrifying sights such as the battleship that hung in space before Trowa were common.  
  
The spaceship Peacemillion also hung in space, very far from the Libra, but not far enough that the other ship didn't posess a sight to see. The Gundam Pilot known only as Trowa Barton stood silently in the Pilot's lounge, staring out the viewport and reflecting at the sights before him.   
  
Libra was on a collision course with Earth. The White Fang had commandeered the ship, and, under the leadership of Milliardo Peacecraft, more commonly known as Zecchs Merquise, intended to punish the Earth for years spent opressing the colonies. Milliardo intended to deliver a blow to Earth that would surely cripple it. The new Chief Representative of the Romefeller Foundation, Treize Khushrenada, and now the head of the recently formed World Nation, was possibly the only one who could stand up to Zecchs. Zecchs had the power of thousands of mobile dolls at his command, but Treize had the support and fierce loyalty of the fearsome pilots of Oz. These two opposing forces would collide soon enough, and the battle to decide the fate of Earth, the colonies, and the entire human race would begin.  
  
Trowa did not look forward to that battle. He knew that he, and his fellow Gundam pilots, would be in the middle of that attack, supporting which side, he did not yet know. But he did know that this battle promised to be the largest and bloodiest in all of humankind's history. He turned his gaze past Libra, and could vaguely make out the form of the resource satellite, MO2. The location where Treize was gathering all the military force of Earth, intending to make one last stand to stop Libra. He could see little dots of light, so many that they practically covered MO2, and the view of Earth behind it. Those little spears of light were mobile suit carriers. Each one carrying approximately ten to twenty mobile suits....  
  
Trowa shook his head, a gesture that would have been nearly imperceptible to anyone watching.   
  
Such a waste. All the lives that were going to be lost tomorrow, all in the name of total pacifism. Humankind simply could not come to grips with it's warlike nature, as Trowa had, it had to fight vicious wars, and nearly kill itself off, to come to that simple realization.  
  
However, aside from slight shame at his species' ignorance, Trowa felt nothing. Such was the case, all too often, these days.  
  
The countless battles the young man had been in had begun to take their toll a few months ago. He had always put up a front of indifference, but now, he really felt it. His heart had been devoid of emotions for some time now. Which, begged the question, why fight? Trowa knew just as well as anybody, that a warrior who didn't believe in his cause was useless. A warrior without his own drive was the worst kind, that kind of self-serving, unimportant soldier was the kind that had driven Romefeller executives to come up with the mobile dolls in the first place. So, why was Trowa going to pilot his Heavyarms into battle tomorrow?  
  
In all likelihood, no, it was a definite, Trowa would again be a murderer tomorrow. He would kill again and again, and that would continue, maybe until he died. Sons, fathers, brothers, and cousins would all be the victims of himself and Heavyarms, tomorrow.   
  
Trowa placed a single hand on the glass viewport in front of him.  
  
The simple answer to that question, and Trowa had always knew, was he fought because it needed to be done. Someone had to pilot Heavyarms, someone had to protect humanity from it's own weaknesses. Someone had to fight for those too weak to make their own stand. Someone had to protect Katherine, and his only home, the circus. He had dreaded leaving that simple home again, but he had known then, he was not destined for a simple circus life, a life of entertaining people, much as he would have liked. He was destined to a life of war. He was destined to be the murderder of yet more people. But if all that meant, that as a result of his fighting, he would make a difference, that no more children would have to grow up as he did, without emotions, then Trowa was willing to fight.  
  
Therein was his drive, his reason for battle. As long as he held that simple truth to himself, he would survive tomorrow, and he would succeed on this path he had chosen. He let his hand drop from the viewport. Tomorrow was going to be bloody, and horrible, but it needed to happen. And he would be there, figthing with all his soul, to be sure that the cause for tomorrow's battle, the security of peace for the human race, came to fruitition. For himself, for Katherine.  
  
Trowa turned from the scene of sadness that was displayed before him. No matter how ready he was, in spirit, if he didn't get sleep, he would be just as useless. But before he went off to his quarters, he took one last glance out the window, and promised himself something:  
  
It ends tomorrow.  
  
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Duo rose up from his bed, cursing himself. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to be able to find blessed sleep. He knew that it was necessary, for tomorrow. But his mind simply wouldn't let him do it. The pilot of Gundam Deathscythe wasn't worried, no, he was never worried about battle. After all, he was the Great Destroyer, and none who had ever met him and his Gundam in battle had lived to tell of it. No, he wasn't worried.  
  
Duo Maxwell was downright terrified.  
  
He knew that he had indeed been in many battles before. He had faced odds just as bad, if not worse, than the ones that would greet him tomorrow, on the day of the final battle. Plus, he DID have the support of his fellow Gundam pilots. Heero, Quatre, Trowa, and that crazy Wufei would all be there. They would fight side by side, as the Gundams had been intended to fight. Together, the five of them should have been undefeatable, nothing could stand against them. Not the mobile doll army of Zecchs Merquise, and certainly not the force of Space Leo's that Treize had gathered. But.....  
  
Why was he so scared?  
  
He run a hand over his damp brow. True, he had faced worse odds. But the cause he had fought for, the entire reason he piloted Deathscythe, was going to be put to the test. The path in life he had chosen was about to be proved either meaningful or futile tomorrow. If it was meaningful, well, that meant that Duo had been a good guy, after all. It meant that everyone he had done, his very existence, was justified. Maybe that he was even a hero. But if it would be been proved wrong, tomorrow.......  
  
Well, he had more blood on his hands that most people his age. Maybe Wufei, or Heero had more, but they were different from Duo. Wufei was a strange son of a bitch, obsessed with honor, and he knew that his cause in life was the correct one, for him. Good and evil meant little to him, only his personal honor. Heero, well sometimes Duo doubted that Heero was even human, at all. The young man seemed to be made of Gundanium himself, his cool exterior was never shaken. He had never spoke out a word of his inner thoughts to Duo, or, as far as the pilot of Deathscythe knew, anyone else for that matter. No, Duo wasn't like them, or even like the robotic Trowa. And he certainly wasn't as emotional as Quatre. But nonetheless, tomorrow worried him.  
  
He didn't want to think that all of the people he had been forced to kill, that all of the incomplete families he had left in his wake, had all been meaningless. He didn't want to have fought so hard, for nothing. He put up an exterior of joking, but that was only a way to hide is true inner pain.   
  
He had to stop doing this. Whether or not he had been right in his life, he would find out soon enough. But he wouldn't if he couldn't get any rest. He plopped back down onto his pillow, folding his arms behind his head.  
  
Zecchs had hurt Hilde, the only person Duo really trusted. She had risked her life to help Duo and the others, and he'd be damned if that would go to waste.   
  
It was going to be an interesting day, to say the least.  
  
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Wufei Chang threw another punch, kick, one two combo at the punching bag in front of him. The sweat covered pilot of the Gundam Altron was in the pilot's gym, working out his frustrations on the punching bag in front of him. Sure, he preferred a real opponent, as the punching bag had no honor, and couldn't fight back. But he needed something to do, and he wasn't as weak as the others to need something so trival as sleep. Tomorrow was important, after all. Sleep was meaningless. It was much better, to prepare himself psychologically and mentally for tomorrow. Tomorrow was the day all the past few months had been heading towards, the culmination of all the battles.  
  
Wufei however, could care less. He of course, knew how important that day would be, knew that the fate of a race was lying on him and the rest of the Gundam pilot's shoulders. He had no qualms with himself. He didn't know whether the choice their choice was the correct one. He didn't know if they were the good guys, or merely terrorists. He didn't bother himself with such things. Wufei Chang knew, deep down in his heart, that this was what he was born to do, right or not. It was his destiny. The only reason tomorrow mattered to him more than any other battle was for one reason:  
  
His honor.  
  
Treize Khushrenada, the one who had defeated him so soundly all those months ago. Treize, the one whom Wufei had obsessed about during all these battles. The mysterious new leader of the World Nation had showed himself, and had prepared to make his last stand. Regardless of whom the Gundam pilots ended up giving their assistance to, Wufei was sure of one, simple fact.  
  
Tomorrow, he and Treize would battle to the death.  
  
He was stronger than he had been, back then. He knew what he had to do. He knew the depth of his own honor and integrity. Treize, however, was playing with the lives of the warriors under him as if they were mere toys, a simple moment's distraction for whatever the man's true agenda was. Well, tomorrow, he would see. He would put the integrity and honor of Treize to the ultimate test.  
  
No matter which of them won, the leader of the World Nation, or the fierce warrior known as Wufei Chang, he was going to savor that battle.  
  
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The young Arabian boy lifted his arm, taking another sip of the coffee before him. He was dressed in a simple pilot's jumpsuit, the one he would end up wearing tomorrow, at the day of calling. His hand trembled uncontrollably. Though he had truly been put to the test this day, he had come out victorious. He had conquered the Zero system, the one thing that had indeed been his bane. It had forced him to betray possibly the greatest friend he had, and he had, in the end, nearly killed Trowa. Even now, many memories were still missing from the somber warrior's mind, memories that were likely never to come back. It was his fault, but he had redeemed himself, today.  
  
Quatre Rababera Winner took another sip from the steaming mug of coffee in front of him. He didn't bother to look out the viewport, he knew what he would see. A million mobile suits, all gathering for war. And tomorrow, he would get an even closer look at them. As uncountable people were sure to die, tomorrow, all in the last bid for total pacifism. He, the pilot of Gundam Sandrock, would be at the center of it, fighting for his ideals.  
  
Quatre, had before today, been plagued with self doubt. He had seen himself as really nothing, a young child caught where he shouldn't be. Even piloting Sandrock, much as he enjoyed doing it, felt out of place, for him. It was as if the entire life he had chosen simply wasn't his own. This life of struggle was something he had never desired, but he had it. And today, he had proved it to himself, and to his comrades, that he was ready. Quatre had conquered the Zero system, and used it to aid his friends in their initial attack on Libra. They had all survived the battle, thanks to him. Quatre was not one to brag, ever, and would never speak these thoughts aloud, but right now he pretty proud of himself. He took another sip of his mug, not wanting or needing sleep at the moment.  
  
One thing, however, still irked him this night. Those mobile dolls they had encountered. They had fought even more ferocious and methodical than Quatre could remember them being. Normally, such a force of mobile dolls would have easily fell before the combined might of the Gundams. But they had fought their battle in complete synchronization, as if one mind was behind all their workings. That mind had a name, and only Quatre had so far figured it out.  
  
Dorothy Catalonia.  
  
The girl he had met back in the Sanq Kingdom. The one that had been so obsessed with war. The girl posessed an unnatural desire to see and take part in battles. Quatre had felt horror in his heart, upon first seeing the motivation and drivet his girl had towards destruction. It was no small wonder that she had ended up as director of the mobile doll task force. Her obsession with battle was what had fed the mobile dolls, and gave them such unprecedented ferocity in combat. Quatre felt a pang in his heart, he felt truly sorry for the girl. There must be a reason that she was the way she was. Quatre had alaways been good at reading the emotions of people, and from Dorothy, he got something that resembled profound sadness, and drive to avenge, to save, of what yet, he did not know. Quatre knew, however, that somehow, her destiny and his were intertwined.   
  
Tomorrow, they would see. One way or another, he would confront Dorothy. He would make her see the error of her ways. He hoped. If he didn't, things might become dire......  
  
And all of a sudden, sleep became a very good proposition.  
  
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Possibly the most dangerous mobile suit ever created, maybe surpassed only by the Epion, the Gundam Wing Zero stood silent as death in the mobile suit hangar of the Peacemillion. It was an intimidating sight, standing almost 20 meters in the air, gleaming in even the dim lights of the hangar at sleep hours. It didn't seem as heavily equipped as say, Gundam Heavyarms, but something about the very manner of the Gundam, if that was possible, the atmosphere around it, suggested otherwise. One did not have to be versed in mobile suit variations to know that this was one very dangerous machine.  
  
And the pilot of it, the young man known only by his code name, Heero Yuy, was possibly the most dangerous man alive. Even at the tender age of 15, he had killed more people, and been the turning point of more battles, than most would care to remember. If any of the Gundam pilots had the most responsibility laying on them, it was him. They all looked to him, not for leadership in battle, Quatre provided that, but for guidance. What he decided to do, where he decided to go, they would follow. It wasn't his fault, he knew what he had to do. It was indeed a shame that what he had to involved war, but it needed to be done, very simply. The only way to achieve peace, both on Earth and in the Colonies, was to fight those who started wars. Those like Treize, and those like Zecchs.  
  
Treize was an enigma, even to Heero. The man's actions seemed to be erratic, but his manner suggested he had a purpose, that all was according to his plan. Heero didn't worry about it too much, he never did. If Treize had wanted to kill him, he never would have gave him Epion. Treize, contrary to most people's beliefs, Heero knew, was fighting for total pacifism as his ultimate goal. It wasn't his place to point this out to others, so he kept his peace, and left them to figure it out for themselves.  
  
Zecchs however, was different. Heero understood Zecchs perfectly. The man believed that the only true way to acheive peace was to make all of humankind want it, more than they had ever wanted anything. And he believed that the only possible method to head them on that road, was to show them a war, a war like none they had ever seen nor would ever see again. If people were witnesses to true bloodshed, then they would no longer desire war. Heero understood this point, and, in a way, agreed with it. But he and Zecchs had chose different paths. Zecchs had chosen one of the futures Epion had showed him, and Heero had done the same with Zero. Zero had told him that his destiny did not lie with showing mankind their error, but protecting them from themselves. And the best way to do that was to destroy Zecchs.   
  
Other than these things, Heero had only one reason for figthing. Relena.  
  
He didn't know how, or when, but the sister of Milliardo Peacecraft had become very dear to him during these months. She and him were so different, she was so innocent, naive, and pure. She worked for what she believed in, and she had the power to inspire others all around the world to do the same. She had almost made total pacifism a reality, all by her self. If not for her brother, who had more extreme views, she would have succeeded. Heero had never felt like this towards anyone, but he was not one to disobey the callings of his heart. He would do what his soul told him to, he had always done so in the past.   
  
Relena Peacecraft was on Libra. As Heero left his Gundam where it was, making his way to the emergency shuttles, he checked his handgun and ammo for the tenth time.   
  
He was going to do as his heart bade, and rescue Relena from Libra. Nothing else mattered to him more than that. Then, after he had saved her, he and Zecchs would have their final battle.   
  
And so the small one man shuttle bearing Gundam pilot Heero Yuy left Peacemillion.  
  
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And so it began. Milliardo turned down the challenge of Treize to a duel. The two opposing space armies rushed at each other, the mobile suits more numerous then the stars in the background. Heero Yuy was on Libra. The other Gundams were on their way to fight their last fight, to stand up for what they believed in once and for all.  
  
The Day of Judgement for Humanity had begun. 


End file.
